Transport Minister Robert Goodwill MP has drawn criticism from a number of campaigners following comments made to the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group as part of its inquiry into the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS).
The draft CWIS was slammed by campaigners when it was published in March, with British Cycling’s Chris Boardman saying it was “not worth the paper it’s written on” without funding.
Yesterday (Monday May 24) saw Goodwill questioned about the proposals, along with a number of others, including Boardman, representatives of cycling organisations and a number of transport experts.
One of Goodwill’s more eyecatching comments was that the perception of fear of cycling in places like London could be blamed on media coverage of cycling fatalities.
However, it was his response to a question about key performance indicators (KPIs) on diversity that drew most ire on social media.
Robert Goodwill says he will consider KPIs but we need to know why women don't want to cycle to work. His wife says a helmet spoils her hair
— APPCG (@allpartycycling) May 23, 2016
Mark Treasure, chair of the Cycling Embassy of Great Britain, pondered whether this might also be a major reason why so few men cycled to work.
Also bear in mind here that >96% of men don’t cycle to work. Must be worried about their hair, or something https://t.co/DXaWffDFC9
— Mark Treasure (@AsEasyAsRiding) May 23, 2016
Another claim was that funding per cyclist was in a healthy state in the UK. Although he also said that more was always wanted.
Robert Goodwill says there will never be enough money for cycling. He says that spending has tripled to £7 per head
— APPCG (@allpartycycling) May 23, 2016
The sustainable transport charity Sustrans calculates the current level of spend to be £1.35 per person per year. It says that £17.35 per person per year will have to be spent over the next 10 years if the government is to meet its target of doubling the levels of cycling over the next decade.
Goodwill also said Britain was ‘on a par’ with other European countries when it came to cycling. When asked by the panel which ones, he said he would get back to them.